1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to that field of devices consisting of articles of manufacture known as sealants for use on pipe threads. Specifically, the instant invention is a single application pipe thread sealant for use on joints between interfitting male and female coaxial components.
2. Background Information
The prior art known to the Inventor discloses two principal forms of pipe thread sealants. The first, generally known as “liquid sealant” is in liquid form or occasionally a paste or gel. It is applied to the male threads of a typical male female union found commonly as connection means between two pieces of plastic, copper, brass, steel or iron pipe. More often than not, the applicator is a brush, though it is also known to be tip of the container in which the sealant is packaged. Liquid sealant is packaged such that multiple applications are in each container.
The second form of pipe sealant is the solid type, most often available as a roll of “tape”. In this form, the sealing material is fabricated into a very long strip, which is then rolled onto itself and packaged. When packaged, the roll of tape provides multiple applications in each container.
The instant invention is preferably fabricated from the same sort of material generally available as a solid pipe sealant. One of the most common names for this sort of material, and the name by which it is generally known in the art of plumbing is “Teflon tape”. Teflon is a registered trademark of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company. Generally, this sort of tape is actually a form of PTFE (polytetraflouroethylene) flouropolymer resin.
Under normal circumstances, a pair of male-female pipes which are to be connected together are prepared by applying pipe sealant to the male-threaded portion of the pipe, and then turning or twisting (rotating) the pipes together such that the male-threaded portion of the pipe threads and seats into the female-threaded portion of another pipe. Once fully tightened, the combination of the interlocking male-female threaded portions of the pipes and the pipe sealant provide a firm seal such that material (generally in a gaseous or liquid form) passing through the two connected pipes will not leak out of the two pipes, at the male-female joint.
As noted above, it is generally the accepted practice to apply the sealant to the male-threaded portion of the pipes to be connected, prior to attaching the two pieces of pipe together. Under ideal circumstances, the two pieces of pipes to be connected to one another are easily accessible, and the male-threaded portion is not attached to anything. Under these circumstances, one may manipulate the pipe having the male-threaded portion easily and turn the pipe or otherwise move it during the process of applying the sealant. For example, when the pipe having the male-threaded portion is not attached to anything, one can hold it under one's arm, or lay it on a stable, horizontal surface. One can then use both of one's hands to press a sealant tape firmly onto the male-threaded end of the pipe and carefully wind the tape around the pipe, repeatedly, thereby “coating” the male-threaded portion of the pipe with the tape. It is well known that one must use a considerable degree of care when applying the sealant tape, to ensure that the tape overlaps itself somewhat during the application (thus ensuring a complete coating on the pipe threads). It is also well known that one must have enough space around the male-threaded end of the pipe so that the tape can be carefully wrapped around the threads without bunching up on itself or otherwise become stuck to itself.
Current solid pipe sealants, like the “Teflon tape” referred to above tend to be difficult to work with when connecting two pipes together under less than ideal circumstances. For example, should it be necessary to connect a pair of male-female threaded pipes within a confined area, it takes at least one pair of hands to hold the tape and wrap or wind it around the male threaded portion of the pipe repeatedly in order to form a complete seal along the male threaded portion.
An example of such a confined area would be the interior of a standard two-by-four studded wall covered with sheet rock. Should it be necessary at a later date to replace a portion of the male-female threaded pipe located within the wall, the sheet rock must be cut away in an area in order to expose the pipe joint. Such a cutaway is generally preferred to be as small as possible, to minimize the amount of repair work which must be done in order to put the wall back to its original condition. However, because the cutaway tends to be as small as possible, very little room is available to reach inside the wall with both hands at the same time, and wind or wrap the sealant tape around the pipe joint before reconnecting the male-female threaded portions back together.
In such a circumstance, the current art of pipe sealants requires that the opening be large enough for one to get a pair of hands inside the opening, at the same time, in order to hold the sealant tape firmly with one hand, and then begin to roll or wind around the male-threaded end of one pipe prior to re-seating it into the female-threaded end of the other pipe. However, making the opening in the wall large enough for the pair of hands results in damage to the wall far larger than would be required if only one hand was required to apply the pipe sealant.
This process of winding or wrapping the sealant tape around the male-threaded portion of the pipe can be further complicated when the pipe has been located within a confined space, proximate to a back wall or other pipe so that there is practically no room at all to wrap the tape (that is, revolving the tape around the pipe in the same fashion the Earth revolves around the Sun) repeatedly around the pipe. The art currently dispenses these sealant tapes in a roll, and in order to wrap the pipe in such a circumstance it becomes necessary to un-roll a length of the tape, and then carefully thread the loose piece of tape between the proximate object and the pipe portion to be sealed, repeatedly. Applying the sealant tape in this manner introduces the very real possibility of contaminants becoming attached to the sealant tape before it is applied to the male threads, and then being wrapped onto the threads. Such a contaminated pipe thread is often very difficult to seat firmly into the female-threaded portion of the pipe, and can well serve as a weakened area which may give way under the pressure of the material flowing through the pipe and result in the material flowing through the pipe leaking out along the pipe joint.
It is further well known that unless one is very careful when applying the sealant tape, one may drop the tape dispenser from one's hand. This then leads to the dispenser falling to the ground or floor under the force of gravity, and a length of sealant tape becoming unrolled and potentially useless due to contamination. At the very least, the user is left with the task of re-rolling the tape back into the dispenser, wasting valuable time and energy.
It is also generally known that when applying sealant tape to a threaded pipe, the sealant tape should be wound onto the pipe threads in the opposite direction of that which the pipe itself will be turned when seating the male threaded pipe into the female threaded pipe. This is done to ensure that the sealant tape will be less likely to unwind from the male threaded pipe as the male threaded pipe is seating into the female threaded pipe. Unfortunately, those who are unfamiliar with the proper application may be unaware of the preferred direction, and thus apply the sealant tape incorrectly, leading to incomplete seals and sealant tape unwinding during the connecting of one pipe into another.
Those who deal in the art of connected threaded pipes with sealant on the joint between them further recognize that it is useful to include a visual indicia of the presence of the pipe sealant. When using a solid type pipe sealant, this is most often accomplished by winding the sealant tape around the pipe, beyond the male-threaded portion, such that after the two pieces of pipe have been threadably interlocked, at least a portion of the sealant tape will still be visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know exactly how far to apply the tape in advance, as the male-threaded portion of the pipe may seat further into the threaded portion of the other pipe than one might estimate. And if an insufficient amount of sealant tape is wrapped around the male-threaded portion of the pipe, once that pipe is fully seated it may be impossible to see the sealant tape and know that the two pipes have been properly sealed at their threaded joint.
Finally, it is well known that while one should apply the sealant tape such that it overlaps itself somewhat with each revolution around the male-threaded portion of the pipe, one must also exercise caution not to repeatedly wrap the same portion of the threads too many times. Such an over-application results in the outer diameter of the male-threaded portion plus pipe sealant being too great to easily be threaded (rotated) into, and seated within the female-threaded portion of the pipe. That is, applying too much sealant tape to the threads can make it nearly impossible to firmly and properly seat one pipe into another, as the inner diameter of the female-threaded portion of pipe will not be great enough to accept the outer diameter of the male-threaded portion plus sealant tape.
And while the state of the art has thus far been discussed in terms of the solid pipe sealant, liquids and pastes have their own disadvantages that will briefly be discussed.
Like the solid sealants, the liquid form must be applied evenly to the threads of the pipe prior to joining them together. Unfortunately, where the pipes are not easily accessible, it is just as difficult to reach some portions of the threaded pipe with a brush or applicator as it is to wind a solid sealant tape around the male-threaded portion of the pipe. Areas of the threads which cannot be seen during the application may be missed, and an inadequate seal thereby formed.
Furthermore, many jobs require that as little “mess” be made as possible. When using liquid or paste type pipe joint sealants, it is common for the sealant material to “drip” or “splatter” and contaminate near by surfaces and objects. This accidental application of the liquid sealant results in additional cleaning being required at the completion of the job at hand, thus consuming time that would be better spent on other tasks.
The state of the art then, is that there are a number of materials available to properly seal the joint between two threaded pipes. However, none of them have been fabricated in a manner which would make their application to the pipe threads faster, easier or cleaner.